


Spark

by malevolentmango



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/F, Femslash February, Fluff, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 10:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13715952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malevolentmango/pseuds/malevolentmango
Summary: Aubrey can't sleep the night she discovers that she has magic powers. Dani doesn't help at all.





	Spark

_ Holy shit, _ Aubrey thinks for about the twentieth time that day, laying across the plush bed in her room at the Lodge. She snaps her fingers, and a jet of fire springs up - real, bright, and warm, but not burning her hand at all. 

 

“Holy shit,” she says quietly. Dr. Bonkers looks up at her from his pillow curiously. 

 

She douses the flame by closing her fist around it, and then snaps her fingers again, wondering if she'll ever get tired of it. Probably not. 

 

She's been trying to sleep for a while now, but her brain is running too fast for her to catch up. All the things she learned today, all the people she met, the  _ holy shit fire, _ it all means she's not likely to get any rest anytime soon. 

 

After a few more clicks, Aubrey decides enough is enough, and slides off the bed to go look for something to take her mind off things. She considers trying to find her boots in the semi-darkness, wherever she kicked them off, but decides it doesn't matter; there's probably no one else awake at this hour anyway. 

 

“Back soon, Dr. Bonkers,” she says before slipping out the door.

 

At first, Aubrey thinks she was right about everyone being asleep - the lobby appears to be empty, lit only by the lights from the front desk and the slowly dying fire. But a second pass of the room reveals a figure sitting on the floor on the other side of the fireplace, using the light to draw something in a sketchbook. 

 

Dani. 

 

Even from here, Aubrey can see that the tips of her fingers are dark with charcoal dust. As she watches, Dani squints at the page, angling the sketchbook towards the dimming fire to get a better look at it. 

 

Aubrey holds out a hand towards the fireplace, and it comes much easier this time. The fire flares back into life, making Dani jump. She quickly shuts her sketchbook.

 

“Woah,” they both say at the same time. 

 

Dani gives her a curious look, then smiles. “Thanks. Didn't realize anyone else was awake.”

 

“Ah, yeah, just… just me, I think.”

 

Dani stands up and gestures to a small table in front of the fire, setting her sketchbook on it as she sits. “I suppose if you can't sleep, you might as well join me.”

 

Aubrey crosses the room to sit with her, trying desperately not to blush. In the soft glow of the fire light, Dani’s even cuter than before. 

 

“Thanks again for looking after Dr. Bonkers earlier,” Aubrey says, which seems like a safe and totally innocuous thing to say, and definitely better than the alternative of “I think the way your eyes glow is adorable, can I see it again?” 

 

Tact is something her mother mostly failed to make stick, but bits of her lessons come back occasionally.

 

“Oh, it was no problem, he's great.” Dani fiddles with her stub of charcoal, her eyes flicking from Aubrey’s face to the fire, and then back again. “Still getting used to it?”

 

Aubrey snaps her fingers, and a small flame appears between them. Dani smiles.

 

“Yeah, it's pretty… cool? Terrifying? One of those. Both maybe.”

 

“I suppose finding out so late in life would be a shock.”

 

“Have you always been, um…” Aubrey gestures at Dani’s face, remembering at the last second to wave her flame out. Several words stick to the tip of her tongue - monster-y, extraordinary,  _ adorable _ \- but she finally settles on, “Glowy?”

 

Dani laughs, a sharp bark of a thing that she has to cover up with a hand over her mouth when it rings out loud in the quiet room. Aubrey finds herself wanting to hear more of it. 

 

“Yep, that's me. Always glowy.”

 

“Cool, cool. What's, uh… what's that like?”

 

“Bright, mostly,” Dani says, grinning, and Aubrey laughs. “I suppose it hasn't always been great, but… it's nice, finally having a place to live where I'm not always the weirdest one in the room.”

 

Aubrey nods at Dani’s sketchbook. “Must be a lot of interesting things to draw around here.”

 

To her surprise, Dani blushes slightly. “Oh, yes, there's--there's quite the cast of characters here.” She considers Aubrey for a moment, her head tilted slightly to the side. “Would you… like to see?”

 

“Yeah!” Aubrey says, leaning forward immediately in her eagerness. “That is, I mean, if you… don't mind--”

 

“No, it's fine--”

 

“--wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable--”

 

“--might be a little weird--?”

 

“--you know?”

 

They stare at each other for a moment before breaking down into quiet giggles. Dani turns the sketchbook towards her and flips it open to the first page. 

 

“I just got this book pretty recently so there's not as much in it,” she says, still looking vaguely red in the face. “I've, uh… I've got a lot more.”

 

Aubrey examines each page carefully, forgetting to respond in her awe. The sketches are gorgeous. There's a few of what must be the view from the Lodge, overlooking the wilderness outside, and some of buildings that Aubrey guesses are in Kepler. But it's the ones of people that draw her in the most - Dani must have drawn everyone in the Lodge at some point, she thinks, but here she finds sketches of Mama and Barclay and Jake Coolice, and a few more of others she hasn't met yet.

 

Aubrey remembers her voice, finally. “Dani, these are beautiful.”

 

Dani smiles brightly, and Aubrey thinks,  _ Wow. _ “Oh! Thank you, that's very sweet of you. It's just kind of a--a hobby, you know?”

 

“Some hobby,” Aubrey murmurs. She flips another page carefully, and her eyes widen at the next drawing. “Dr. Bonkers!”

 

It's her favorite sketch yet - not that she's biased, of course. Dr. Bonkers is rendered in exquisite furry detail, stretched out the way he does when he's basking in a spot of sunshine on the floor. Dani must have drawn him earlier today.

 

“He was too cute not to draw,” Dani says. “You can keep it, if you like.”

 

“Oh, I… are you sure?” When Dani nods, Aubrey very carefully starts tearing the paper off at the perforated edge. “This is so great, thank you, I…”

 

Aubrey trails off as she finishes removing the picture of Dr. Bonkers, catching sight of the drawing underneath it. It’s clearly unfinished; half of the page is still blank. And unlike the rest of the sketches she’s seen, which had only a few charcoal smudges, this one is littered with them, as if Dani had gone back to fix things over and over again, never quite satisfied with the result.

 

But it is, unmistakably, Aubrey’s face. 

 

_ “Holy shit,” _ she mutters, and for the first time tonight, it’s not her newfound powers that she’s astounded by. She looks between the page and Dani, confused, and there’s a definite blush on Dani’s face now. 

 

“Yeah, uh, you know,” Dani says. She clears her throat nervously. “You were… too cute not to draw.”

 

“Is that…? Are you…?” Aubrey’s pretty sure there are words she's supposed to say here, if only she can figure out what they are. She sort of feels like if she snapped her fingers right now, she could set the whole Lodge on fire. “Um.”

 

“It's weird, isn't it? I'm sorry, I--”

 

“I think you're cute too!” The words burst from Aubrey’s mouth without thought. She fidgets, her fingers twisting around each other. “That was louder than it probably should have been.”

 

Dani laughs, and it sounds a little relieved. “Yeah, maybe a bit. We could, um… talk about it more later, when people aren't asleep? Like after your big mission tomorrow?”

 

Aubrey stares at the sketch for a moment - she's pretty sure the look on her face right now isn't nearly as cool as the one Dani drew - then she meets Dani's eyes over the table. “Like… a date?”

 

Dani smiles. “Exactly like that, yeah.”

 

_ “Wow.” _ Dani looks at her expectantly, biting her lip when Aubrey doesn't say anything else. “Oh right, I mean, yes? Yeah. Absolutely. Wow.”

 

“Great. Awesome,” Dani says, still looking flushed. It's a very good look on her, Aubrey decides. Dani glances at the clock hanging over the fireplace, then adds reluctantly, “It's super late and you probably need to sleep, but… I'm really excited about tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah, it's shaping up to be a pretty big day,” Aubrey says, and if pressed, she wouldn't be able to say to which new adventure she's looking forward to more. 

 

She stands up - and it’s only now that she remembers that she’s been barefoot this whole time - taking the sketch of Dr. Bonkers with her, and Dani follows, rounding the table to join her. 

 

“See you tomorrow, then,” Dani says. After a moment's hesitation, she leans in. Before Aubrey has a chance to panic, she places a light, tentative kiss on Aubrey’s cheek. “Good night.”

 

“Good night,” she manages to say around the swell of adoration that’s welling up inside her

 

She's pretty sure she floats back to her room, reaching a hand up to her cheek where the pressure of Dani's kiss still remains. It still takes her a long time to fall asleep, but at least she has something nice to dream about.

 

~~~

 

As it turns out, Aubrey’s in no shape to go on a date the following day. But when she finally returns to the Lodge, Dani assures she has no problem rescheduling - laughs, even, when Aubrey throws out several suggestions in a row. “We could do it tonight! Or tomorrow! Whenever you want! I’m sorry!”

 

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Dani says. She takes Aubrey’s hand, and Aubrey thinks she must light up like a firework, with how flushed she feels. “It sounds like you were pretty fantastic out there.”

 

They finally agree on a time for their date (immediately) and a place (the Lodge, because leaving means less time being on said date), and Aubrey spends the whole time feeling like she’s one spark away from bursting into flames. 

 

She can’t wait to do it again.

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me about TAZ on [tumblr](http://malevolentmango.tumblr.com)!


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